


human kindness is overflowing, i think it's going to rain today

by gwmclintock88



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hitchhiker AU, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 23:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3429308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwmclintock88/pseuds/gwmclintock88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The middle of a rainstorm is nowhere you want to be, especially without a car or even an umbrella. Unfortunately, that's exactly where Jemma finds herself, until someone stops by to offer her a lift. </p>
<p>Hitchhiker and driver AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	human kindness is overflowing, i think it's going to rain today

            Jemma hugged her coat tighter around her, for what little good it did. The rain kept crashing against the shack of a bus stop, cascading down in rivers underneath the walls and trying to crawl over her feet. She long since pulled her legs up off the ground and tried to hide them underneath her coat, both for warmth and to keep them dry, but the weather decided to change. Winds shifted and the rain poured down from the front about half an hour ago. It finally shifted again, and at least no longer blasted her with ice. But the damage was done to her clothes (not her laptop or books, because she kept those dry no matter way).

            Not that she wasn’t used to the rain or the cold, or general depression that seemed to always settle whenever the weather shifted to gloomy. She was English, and well, being in California certainly fit her ‘sunny-disposition’ more than the disposition of her home country ever did. Or maybe it was just the way her father lorded over her life in London and being away from him was enough just to smile a little bit more. Most days at least. The man was petty enough to try and control her with an ocean between them, and still never offered something resembling help. So here she was, stuck at a bus stop at the end of the day with a monsoon crashing down on her.

            If only she had a car. Things would be so much better if she had a car. She talked with her parents about it, and it’s not like they couldn’t afford to even help her purchase a used vehicle. Really, her sister received a brand new Porsche, or something like that last year, after totaling the last one. Instead, her father tried to use it as a bribe to come work for him, again. It hadn’t worked on her eighth birthday when she asked for a microscope and he wanted her to study business (she ended up buying one on her own after saving for several months – not top of the line but a basic one). It hadn’t worked when she was sixteen and wanted to head to a university to finish her Ph.Ds, and he wanted her to stay (they compromised with sending her to Oxford but living at home). And it certainly wasn’t going to work if it meant having to leave SHIELD after graduating from the Academy, just to get a fricking car.

            Jemma let out a long breath, trying to calm herself down a bit. Her heart pounded in her chest, even as another blast of cold air curled around her. She kept shivering and tried not to contemplate going back home. She wasn’t defeated, not by a long shot, but certainly her current predicament meant a lack of funds even she wasn’t accustomed to dealing with. Yes, she came from a family of wealth, not that anyone else knew about it, but unless you were father’s favorite or second favorite and not the embarrassment, then there was little you got besides a meager stipend and a trust fund. A trust fund she couldn’t touch until she either worked for him or turned twenty-five, whichever came first, though given her current situation, she wagered she’d never get to touch that money if she caught something out here. Not that she would, but it was the principle of sitting in the pouring rain, at a bus stop, to go to a part of town she only lived in because her father refused to provide just a little bit extra for her.

Maybe she should have just taken Fitz up on being his roommate. It would be awkward, but she would make the most of it, and really, he was her best friend, and it was great working with him, but she wasn’t certain living with him at the moment was an intelligent choice. Given her current circumstances, it was a choice she was willing to reconsider.

She shook her head, little droplets flinging off randomly, and tried to think about something positive in her life. Being at the Academy and almost being ready to graduate, so both of those were positives. Being friends with Fitz was another. And having an active sex life, or well, maybe that wasn’t accurate since given the frustration of her current study and homework, she hadn’t managed to go out with anyone in the past six months, and hadn’t had sex in an even longer period. Her last good date had been with this wonderful girl from a nearby college, and despite a wonderful outing and an even better make-out session, the other girl never called her back. Self-gratification served its purpose, but she felt even that going stale.

            “Hey!” Jemma stopped staring at the water running down the pavement and looked up. A young girl was leaning across to the passenger side of a van with the window rolled down. “You know the buses aren’t running right now, right?”

            Jemma felt her body freeze in shock. “What?”

            “There’s flooding at the station, and well, I guess they can’t get out or something,” the girl said with a shrug of her shoulders.

            “Of course there is,” Jemma said. She shuffled a bit in her wet jeans, and tried not to question what got her here, again. She now had to figure out another way home and -

            “Need a lift?” The stranger asked before Jemma could finish her thought.

            “What?” she hated repeating herself, but being cold and confused never was a welcome state.

            “I wanted to know if you needed a lift somewhere,” the girl said.

            “Are-are you sure?” Jemma’s teeth began to chatter. She didn’t know this girl, and she was driving this really creepy van. For all she knew, she could have just been bait for some dude waiting in the back of that van.

            “Yeah, I’m trying to find higher ground so my van doesn’t float away.” The smile the girl offered her did her in. Really, she shouldn’t have such a weakness for attractive strangers, and normally didn’t, but today things tilted on an axis and Jemma just wanted to grab hold of whatever she could.

            She nodded, and found herself saying, “sure. Thank you.”  The girl just smiled at her again and unlocked the passenger door before moving back to her seat. Jemma stood up on shaky legs, pins and needles spiking through them. She tried to shake off the cold, and only managed to stumble once getting from the little shack of a bus stop to the girl’s van. Unfortunately, that also ended with a rather deep step off the curb and into a puddle the size of a small lake.

            “Bugger,” Jemma muttered. The water rushed up her already soaked legs and now down into her only decent pair of shoes. She grasped the door handle to regain her balance and caught the flash of sympathy in the girl’s eye. Jemma turned away as she opened the door. She didn’t need to see that, not now, and not after all the girl was offering to do already.

            She tossed her backpack in first, taking care not to throw it – despite an overwhelming need to do damage to something other than her. She quickly followed it in, her clothes sticking to her body and making an awkward squishing sound as she sat down in the car. After taking several deep breaths, her heart settled enough and body felt warm enough to manage saying something. Unfortunately, “thanks” was all she could come up with at that point.

            The girl was cute, maybe a few years younger than her, but definitely cute with her long black hair, a hesitant smile, and bright eyes shining sympathetically at her. Normally Jemma managed to attract the aloof and pretentious, but now and then, cute followed her too. Fitz joked about her being a Disney princess and all that, and he may have had a point some times, but right now, Jemma felt less than a princess  and certainly not ready for cute anyone.

             “Don’t move,” the girl said. She unlocked her own belt before reaching over and locking the Jemma’s door. Before Jemma could ask what was happening, the girl disappeared to the back of the van, and for the first time, she got a chance to look around it.

            The van may have been creepy from the outside, but it was homey inside, right down to the bed and blankets at the back. A little dresser and boxes lined one of the walls and makeshift desk was at the other one. At once, Jemma felt her heart break, just a little bit, for the girl – she lived in here, and by all accounts, living was charitable.

            The girl was back, and tossed some blankets and towels at her. “that should help you out a bit. Can’t be too comfortable being that cold.” Jemma nodded, smiling in thanks. She removed her jacket and tried to dry herself as best as she could using a towels.

            “I- I’m Jemma,” she said. She started shivering now that she could get warm. Her body could actually move and even with the wet clothes sticking to her, she felt wonderful at the air rushing out of the car.

            “Skye,” the girl said. “Now, where is home?” Jemma rattled off the address through chattering teeth. She eventually soaked through the towels and now wrapped herself in the deceptively soft blanket.

            Skye drove through the rain, singing along with the radio as if it was completely normal for her to pick up strangers at the bus stop. Jemma should have been concentrating on the street, checking that they were heading in the correct direction of her apartment, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the girl. Despite the bags under her eyes and the haggard look to her, she was more than cute, beautiful even. And wonderful too. Not many people would stop and offer a stranger a ride home, especially in a creepy van, but Skye did.

            They drove slowly, but it felt comfortable. The silence weighed down on them just as much as the warmth seeped into her. She hugged the blanket close, taking a whiff of whatever Skye used in the wash. Between the warm air, the warm blanket, and the rhythm of the wipers, Jemma let herself trust someone else, just this once because it was special circumstances and Skye definitely wasn’t the psycho killer type, and she shut her eyes for a moment.

            “Jemma.” Someone gently pushed against her shoulder and for a moment Jemma forgot about how shitty of day she had. Things felt too good, and she didn’t want to wake up.

            “Mmm…no,” she swatted the hand that pushed her. With an amused giggle, the hand tried again.

            “We need to get you up to your apartment.” Jemma cracked open her eyes, only to be met with Skye staring at her. “It’s gotten pretty bad.” She sat up, letting the blanket fall from her shoulders to get a look around. It indeed had gotten worse. The rain pounded down onto the van, and little seemed to deter it from streaming down in rivers along the sidewalks. She stared at it for a moment, and wondered where Skye would go? Where would the girl who saved her hide from this storm? Before she could talk herself out of the thought, she started to act, a flaw Fitz loved to point out but here it would only help someone else.

            “Wait, I have a…” Jemma reached for her backpack and fumbled with one of the pockets. She grabbed the remote she kept in case she ever took a cab or missed the open gate because of curfew, which was actually often.  “Pull in there.” She pointed to the gate. Skye followed the command, but gave her a couple of glances as she entered the parking garage.  The only benefit for living here was an included parking garage, and even if she didn’t pay for the spot, the garage offered a safe way up to her apartment.

            “There.” She pointed at her assigned spot. Some water was draining out of the garage, and luckily the drain was not clogged. Hopefully that would remain true, but she never experienced this much rain in one day before.

            “So, now what?” Skye asked once she pulled into the spot.

            “I thought, that, if you’re okay with it, maybe spend the night in my apartment?” Jemma asked. Her fingers toyed with the blanket, giving her something to do while she waited for a response.

            “What?”

            “I don’t think it’s safe for you to be driving out in that much longer,” Jemma said. She dropped the blanket and turned to face Skye fully. “I live in a studio, but I have a couch like thing that folds out, so you can sleep on that if you want, or take my bed if you prefer. It’s not much, but its home, for now at least. And I don’t think you should be driving in this anyway. Plus, I want to repay you, so let me cook you dinner.”

            “Okay…” Skye drew out the word, staring at her. “Just to be clear, you want me to just spend the night, right? No funny business?”

            “What? No!” Jemma shook her head at the thought. “I certainly wouldn’t offer something like that to take advantage of you, and you are obviously the type of girl who wouldn’t either, so I feel comfortable in offering it. Plus, if I did want to engage in mutually pleasurable activities, then I certainly wouldn’t begin looking at pathetic as I do right now.”

            Skye dropped her gaze and let it roam over her. Jemma felt a heat flush over her that certainly wasn’t caused by heating. “I wouldn’t say that.”

            “Oh.” Jemma froze for a moment. She was used to people looking at her like Skye did. She wasn’t some ugly duckling and knew very well her attractiveness paired well with her intelligence to make her even more desirable. But there was honesty in Skye’s, mixed in with there with a little bit of hope.

            Okay, so maybe enjoying something more with Skye wasn’t completely out of the question.  “But not tonight?”

            “Nope,” Skye said, popping the ‘p.’ She unbuckled her seat belt and moved back to the charitably named living area of her van. “Let me grab a few things and I’ll be good to go.” Jemma turned to watch Skye move around, twisting and turning to grab a shirt from a bin, a pair of pants from on top of her bed, and a number of other things. She kind of lost track after as she stared at the ass moving right in front of her. Not the biggest she’d ever seen, but definitely one she’d enjoy examining more in the future.

            Skye shuffled in place to turn and give her a smile. Jemma returned it and hoped her staring wasn’t too noticeable. Certainly not the way to make a friend, though some people did enjoy being watched and observed. She wondered if Skye was that type, but filed the question to be answered later. “All set?”

            “One more thing,” Skye said, reaching toward a shelf. Jemma watched lithe fingers pick up memory cards, only for the cards to disappear into Skye’s bra. “Sorry. I just…”

            Jemma shook her head, now feeling a little guilty both for staring and for catching Skye at a vulnerable moment. “No, I’m sorry. We all have things we want to keep safe.” That seemed to at least prompt a small smile from the girl. She didn’t need to know what was on those cards, and if Skye wanted to tell her, the girl would. “May I take these with me? I managed to get a small washer and dryer in my apartment.” She held up the wad of towels and blankets.

            “I was actually going to ask if I could bring it with.” Skye reached forward to touch her blanket. “I’ve had it since forever.” Her fingers ran over the blanket, her touch almost reverent. It didn’t look special to Jemma, but whatever Skye recalled as she stared at the blanket must have been important. She thought of the little teddy bear her mother gave her when she was four, and how she’d hug it close when lonely or sad, which unfortunately was most of her childhood. When she grew older, she held it in until she was left alone in her room and could try to exercise some of these feelings into the bear. It never worked, but holding the bear felt good.

            “Of course,” Jemma said. She unwrapped herself from the blanket and folded it up as carefully as she could before handing it to Skye. She could handle being cold for a little while, at least until she had a chance to shower, or the very least change clothes. “And if you have anything else that needs to be washed, you can bring it up too.”

            “Maybe later. Someone promised me dinner,” Skye said, now smiling at her. Jemma returned it, her face stretching wide as she failed to contain the happiness now blooming inside of her.

            "Come on." She opened the door and hopped out, grabbing her backpack as she went. Her clothes stuck to her, still wet and squishing as she moved, but she ignored that in favor of watching Skye as she got out of the van.  She put that smile there, and all it took was to open her home. Yes, today was a good day. It may not have started out that way, but it certainly would end that way. Holding the wad of wet towels in one hand, she grabbed Skye's hand with her free one. The younger girl entwined their fingers, and Jemma lead them toward the stairs and up to her apartment. 

            Maybe she’d only get to spend tonight with Skye, just repaying a friend. Maybe she’d be able to convince Skye to stay a little longer, even move in. But she didn’t want to let go of her, not right now, and maybe not ever. She just met the girl, and knew nothing about her. By appearances only, they couldn’t be more different. But as things stood, as Jemma processed everything and the feelings bubbling away inside of her and all the chemicals changing and neurons firing, she realized she didn’t want to know what life would be without Skye.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Disney owns the Marvel Cinematic Universe; I own nothing except the plot


End file.
